The present invention relates to the art of visors for vehicles such as cars, trucks, vans, sport-utility vehicles and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a visor for use in a vehicle that prevents a driver from being temporarily blinded by the light emitted from the headlights of oncoming traffic and/or from the sun.
When driving a first motorized vehicle such as a car, truck, van or sport-utility vehicle at nighttime, the light emitted from the headlights of a second, oncoming vehicle often temporarily blind the driver of the first vehicle. This is because the headlights of the oncoming vehicle point toward the first vehicle and the bright light emitted from the headlights enters the eyes of the driver of the first vehicle, creating a sensory overload in the eyes of the driver of the first vehicle. This sensory overload is sometimes called flash blindness.
Flash blindness typically causes the driver of the first vehicle to lose sight of the road for a period of time that may be up to several seconds. This loss of sight of the road may cause the first vehicle to drive off of the road, strike an object, or both, and is thus an extremely undesirable condition. The temporary loss of sight is exacerbated by the power, i.e., increased light output, of modern headlights, such as those using halogen lamps or high-quality reflectors.
Additionally, flash blindness can occur while a driver is heading in the direction of a rising, setting, or particularly bright sun or other intense light stimulus. The result is again an undesirable condition.
As a result, there is a need for an apparatus that may prevent or diminish the light that reaches the eyes of a driver of a vehicle from the headlights of an oncoming vehicle or from the sun.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a vision visor for a motorized vehicle is provided. The visor includes a visor plate that is at least partially translucent and a post assembly that is adjustably connected to an interior portion of the vehicle. A connector is fastened to the visor plate and adjustably connected to the post assembly, whereby the visor plate may be selectively placed between at least one eye of a driver of the vehicle and light emitted from a light source.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a vision visor for a vehicle is provided. The visor includes a visor plate that is at least partially translucent, an upper post having an upper end and a lower end and a lower post having an upper end and a lower end. The upper end of the lower post adjustably engages the lower end of the upper post, the lower end of the lower post engages a dashboard of the vehicle, and the upper end of the upper post engages an inner surface of the roof of the vehicle. At least one connector that is fastened to the visor plate removably engages at least one of the upper post and the lower post.
In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method for using a vision visor for a vehicle is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a visor plate that is at least partially translucent and adjustably connected by a post assembly to an interior portion of the vehicle, placing the visor plate between at least one eye of a driver of the vehicle and light emitted from a light source, and removing the visor plate from a substantial portion a the field of vision of the driver when there is no light emitted from the light source.
There are other objects and features of the invention, which will be apparent from the following description and claims.